In 1994, Fox Sports
and the NHL reached a five-year broadcast agreement. The first actual broadcasts
took place near the end of the 1994-95 season. One complaint new American
fans of the game had was they had difficulty following the puck. As a result,
the FoxTrax puck was created.

A standard NHL In
Glas Co game puck was cut in half and electronic components were inserted
allowing the puck to be tracked by sophisticated computers that generated
the 'blue and red streaks' when the puck was passed or shot and the 'blue
halos' that highlighted the pucks location. Four sensors were visible on each
flat surface and several more on the edge of the puck.

The FoxTrax puck
was first used at the All-Star Game held in Boston on January 20, 1996. The
first goal ever scored using the puck was by Eric Lindros.

The
new puck was either admired or despised with few opinions in between. New
fans appreciated the innovation while long time fans of the game saw it as
an abomination. The puck continued to appear on Fox broadcasts.

The FoxTrax puck made
its last appearance in an NHL game during Game 1 of the 1998 Stanley Cup finals.
Andrei Nikolishin had the honors of scoring the last goal using the FoxTrax
puck in a 2-1 victory for the Wings. (Below are a picture of the internal
components.)